Fender has 7 mm mounting slot, but recessed brake nut is 8 mm

[rousseau]

Who designs fenders? What gives?

I'm building a town bike/winter beater. The bracket on the road bike-specific fenders I got for this project has a slot that is 7 mm wide, but the recessed bolt on my modern brakes is 8 mm in diameter. It's not an issue for the rear fender, as the bracket goes to the rear of the seat stay bridge and doesn't come into contact with the recessed nut, but it is for the front fender.

Here's a photo of the fenders. You can see the bracket for the front fender that is causing me headaches.

https://i.imgur.com/YdfVyoI.jpg

How would you go about reaming out the 7 mm opening so that it accepts the 8 mm diameter recessed nut? Any ideas?

[JAGI410]

Dremel or Problem Solvers Sheldon Nuts. Either will fix the problem, the latter being a more elegant solution.

[Billybob62]

Dremel or Problem Solvers Sheldon Nuts. Either will fix the problem, the latter being a more elegant solution.

+1 for Sheldon Fender Nut. They also make future removal of the fender far easier. I'm not sure I understand the problem though - are you installing the fender between the brake and fork crown?

[AngryScientist]

it's my experience that when installing fenders, you basically need a fully capable home shop and hardware available. the stuff that comes with the fenders is never exactly what you need and expect to modify lots of stuff. that's just the way it goes in pursuit of the perfect fender line...

[stien]

I believe you're supposed to have the fork mount on the brake side, not the back recessed nut side.

That's for side pulls. Installing fenders on canti/V-brake bikes is awesome.

[oldpotatoe]

Who designs fenders? What gives?

I'm building a town bike/winter beater. The bracket on the road bike-specific fenders I got for this project has a slot that is 7 mm wide, but the recessed bolt on my modern brakes is 8 mm in diameter. It's not an issue for the rear fender, as the bracket goes to the rear of the seat stay bridge and doesn't come into contact with the recessed nut, but it is for the front fender.

How would you go about reaming out the 7 mm opening so that it accepts the 8 mm diameter recessed nut? Any ideas?

?? Brake 'bolt' goes thru fender bracket so bracket is under brake on front of fork..This pic doesn't have a brake there but same idea.

[Gsinill]

http://i1.adis.ws/i/washford/124602?w=637&h=403

[rousseau]

Dremel or Problem Solvers Sheldon Nuts. Either will fix the problem, the latter being a more elegant solution.

Thanks for pointing me to these. I may try them.

?? Brake 'bolt' goes thru fender bracket so bracket is under brake on front of fork..This pic doesn't have a brake there but same idea.

Oh. Oops. I got the bike frame sans wheels back from the LBS with the fenders attached (they've reamed out the brake bolt openings for me, it's a late 70s Peugeot frame), and the front fender bracket was situated behind the fork, so I assumed it was supposed to go there.

If it goes in front of the fork, meaning that the recessed nut isn't an issue, then I guess everything's fine. Thanks for the responses anyway.

[pncguy]

I'm just going through this on my bike, and I have chosen the Sheldon nut solution. If you install the fender bracket on the side opposite of where the brake is - and use the Sheldon nut - the fenders can go on and off without touching the brakes.

On the front, if you install on the back side of the fork, you'll also get more coverage down low, which will keep your bike and toes cleaner. An extended mud flap would do the same thing.

Sheldon nuts are also nice because unlike the photo above, you won't have to bend the fender bracket to keep it from interfering with the headset.

I don't have them yet, but I think I am going to highly recommend Sheldon nuts.

[chiasticon]

I think that's their way of telling you to buy a disc brake bike. :fight:

[rousseau]

On the front, if you install on the back side of the fork, you'll also get more coverage down low, which will keep your bike and toes cleaner. An extended mud flap would do the same thing.

Actually, funny you mention that. With the bracket on the back side of the fork I was having trouble mounting the bike on my fork-mounted workstand because the flap was jamming against the horizontal bar. I'll be happy if that will be less of a problem with the bracket on the brake side.

And with that, I now realize that I won't be getting the Problem Solvers Sheldon Nuts after all. I do think they're an elegant solution, but then again, I'm not going to be constantly removing the fenders or brakes on this beater anyway, so I don't see the need for them.

Come to think of it, if I lived in the UK and had to deal with constant rain I think I would go for fancy mudguards that provide for easy attachment and removal without touching the brakes anyway.

[rousseau]

Might as well post a photo of the bike mid-build, just for fun.

https://i.imgur.com/FuYBLka.jpg